ROUND-UP 2020 journalists detained, held hostage and missing Figures for the period 1 January to 1 December 2020 p. 3 OVERVIEW p. 4 HOW WE CALCULATE THESE FIGURES p. 5 1 DETAINED JOURNALISTS The figures p. 5 The world’s five biggest jailers p. 7 The Covid-19 effect p. 9 New emblematic detainees p. 14 When the worst must be feared p. 15 p. 2 JOURNALISTS HELD HOSTAGE 16 The figures p. 16 High risk countries p. 17 A few releases, stalled negotiations p. 18 p. 20 3 MISSING JOURNALISTS Four journalists were reported missing in 2020 p. 20 Founded in 1985, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) works for journalistic freedom, independence and pluralism all over the world. Headquartered in Paris, with 13 bureaux and sections around the globe and correspondents in 130 countries, it has consultative status with the United Nations and UNESCO. It provides specific support to journalists in the field by means of campaigns, legal and material assistance, physical safety equipment and aids (bullet-proof vests, helmets, manuals and insurance) and digital protection (digital security workshops). Nowadays a key interlocutor for governments and international institutions, RSF publishes an annual World Press Freedom Index that is widely consulted and quoted. 2 / ROUND-UP OF JOURNALISTS DETAINED, HELD HOSTAGE AND MISSING IN 2020 OVERVIEW AGE 4 MISSI OST NG D H EL H 4 5 PRESS 3 D 87 E JO AIN URNALISTS DET 3 / ROUND-UP OF JOURNALISTS DETAINED, HELD HOSTAGE AND MISSING IN 2020 HOW WE CALCULATE THESE FIGURES The 2020 round-up figures compiled by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) include professional journalists, non-professional journalists and media workers. The round-up distinguishes these categories in its breakdowns, in order to facilitate comparison with previous years. Compiled by RSF every year since 1995, the annual round-up of abusive treatment of journalists is based on data gathered throughout the year. We gather detailed information that allows us to affirm with certainty or a great deal of confidence that the detention or abduction of each journalist was a direct result of their journalistic work. This round-up gives the tallies of journalists who were detained, held hostage or missing as of 1 December 2020. It does not take account of journalists who have been arrested or released since that date. 4 / ROUND-UP OF JOURNALISTS DETAINED, HELD HOSTAGE AND MISSING IN 2020 1 DETAINED JOURNALISTS The figures SIONAL JO FES URN RO AL P IS 2 TS 25 PRESS A S I R D E E K M R 3 387 O 1 W 1 DETAINED JOURNALISTS 2 2 N O N -P R S O ST FES LI Press SI NA ONAL JOUR Press 345 Men 42 Women (89%) (11%) The number of detained journalists is still at a historically high level. Worldwide, a total of 387 journalists were held in connection with the provision of news and information at the start of December 2020, compared with 389 at the start of December 2019. This lack of variation follows a 12% rise in 2019. Overall, the number of detained (professional and non-professional) journalists has risen 17% in the past five years (from 328 in 2015). 5 / ROUND-UP OF JOURNALISTS DETAINED, HELD HOSTAGE AND MISSING IN 2020 1 DETAINED JOURNALISTS The number of detained women journalists has increased 35% in the past year, with 42 currently detained, compared to 31 a year ago. Women now constitute 11% of detained journalists, compared to 8% last year. While 2020 saw the release of such emblematic women detainees as well-known Iranian journalist and human rights defender Narges Mohammadi (freed on 1 December), there were 17 new cases of women journalists held as of the start of December: 4 in Belarus, which has experienced an unprecedented crackdown since the controversial presidential election in August; 4 in Iran and 2 in China (countries where repression has increased with the coronavirus crisis); as well as 3 in Egypt, 2 in Cambodia and 1 each in Vietnam and Guatemala. The Covid-19 pandemic had an impact on the number of journalists who were jailed over the course of the year. Despite many calls for the urgent release of prisoners of conscience, including journalists -in order to spare them from the increased danger of catching the virus in crowded jails -the pandemic led to additional arrests, with the result that 14 journalists who had been arrested in connection with their coverage of the coronavirus crisis are still being held. 6 / ROUND-UP OF JOURNALISTS DETAINED, HELD HOSTAGE AND MISSING IN 2020 1 DETAINED JOURNALISTS The world’s five biggest jailers China 117 Syria 27 30 34 28 Egypt Saudi Arabia Vietnam More than half of the world’s imprisoned journalists (61%) are being held in just five countries. For the second year running, China, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Vietnam and Syria are the world’s five biggest jailers of journalists. China has retained the No. 1 ranking with a total of 117 imprisoned journalists, of whom nearly a third (45) are non-professional. The regime’s persecution does not solely target Chinese journalists. Cheng Lei, a Chinese-born Australian journalist working for a Chinese state TV broadcaster, has been held incommunicado since 14 August 2020. Gui Minhai, a Chinese-born Swedish citizen who lived in Hong Kong and published books based on investigative reporting, was kidnapped during a visit to Thailand in 2015 and was taken to China, where he was sentenced to ten years in prison in February 2020 for “illegally providing intelligence to foreign countries.” Three of the top five jailers are in the Middle East. Saudi Arabia is currently holding 34 journalists and bloggers, for whom RSF issued a call for international public support on the eve of the Riyadh-hosted G20 summit in November. Although some of them have been held since 2012, the Saudi authorities have postponed all trials – usually held in a completely opaque manner – since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. In Egypt, most of the journalists who were imprisoned during a wave of arrests in September 2019 have not been released. Others have since been jailed, always on the alleged grounds of “membership of a terrorist group” and “disseminating false news.” They include Hany Grisha and Sayed Shehta, who work for the newspaper Youm 7, and Shimaa Samy and Islam Al-Kalhy, who report for the independent news site Darab. 7 / ROUND-UP OF JOURNALISTS DETAINED, HELD HOSTAGE AND MISSING IN 2020 1 DETAINED JOURNALISTS In Syria, where most of the detentions date back to the first few years after the start of the civil war in 2011, the list of imprisoned journalists is unchanged and few families have obtained any news. If they learn anything, it is usually about the death of a loved one. This was the case in early 2020 for the former wife of Jehad Jamal, a blogger jailed in 2012. She obtained access to a death certificate confirming her fears that he died in detention, probably under torture. The certificate, which said he died in 2016, did not give the cause of death. In Vietnam, where seven professional journalists and 21 bloggers are currently detained, authorities carried out a new wave of arrests in May and June, likely triggered by the approaching Communist Party congress in January 2021. Several members of the Independent Journalists Association of Vietnam (IJAVN) were jailed, including its president, Pham Chi Dung. The arrest in October of Pham Doan Trang, the recipient of RSF’s Press Freedom Prize for Impact in 2019, confirmed the adoption of a much harsher policy. Belarus, an unprecedented crackdown Eight Belarusian journalists were still in prison at the being denied medical attention, food or access to start of December. At least 370 journalists have been toilets, and being kept in uncomfortable positions in arrested since the controversial presidential election overcrowded cells. Around 60 reporters were rounded on 9 August and have been held for varying periods up during the last weekend of August, totalling more than 880 days. Journalists now run the risk of criminal prosecution Independent media have long been targeted by and much heavier sentences. Arbitrary arrests of President Alexander Lukashenko’s regime, but the journalists designed to have a chilling effect on the harassment and violence against them increased media are now increasingly likely to lead to criminal tenfold after the August election and the start of convictions at the end of unfair trials. They are major peaceful protests. The state apparatus seemed accompanied by acts of serious violence, withdrawal ready to do anything to prevent coverage of the of accreditation, deportation for foreign journalists, demonstrations. On the day after the election, 23 and censorship of the Internet and print media, while journalists were arrested. Some were quickly released state media propaganda has been stepped up. but others were subjected to appalling mistreatment including arbitrary beatings, being forced to undress, 8 / ROUND-UP OF JOURNALISTS DETAINED, HELD HOSTAGE AND MISSING IN 2020 1 DETAINED JOURNALISTS The Covid-19 effect Although not exhaustive, the data gathered by RSF’s staff for Tracker 19, a tool specifically created for the Covid-19 pandemic in March 2020, shows a significant surge in press freedom violations during the northern hemisphere’s 2020 spring, as Covid-19 began to spread around the world. Of more than 300 incidents directly linked to journalistic coverage of the pandemic from 1 February to 30 November 2020 (involving nearly 450 journalists), arbitrary arrests alone constituted 35% of the logged abuses (while physical or psychological violence constituted 30%). 180 160 Total violations 140 Total arrests/detentions 120 100 80 60 40 20 0 MAR APR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV The number of arrests quadrupled from March to May 2020.